ANAHEIM – When last we saw the NHL in 2003-04, the Mighty Ducks scored 184 goals in 82 regular-season games, third-fewest in the league.

That startling statistic had a lot to do with the Ducks finishing 29-35-10-8 and 12th in the Western Conference, one season after they had advanced to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals.

After having totaled just three goals in their first two exhibition games of this season, the Ducks found some offense Friday night in a 5-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

The Ducks, who had gone just 1 for 20 on the power play in losses to the Kings and San Jose Sharks, converted 4 of 9 opportunities against Phoenix, though they also surrendered two shorthanded goals. Joffrey Lupul, rookie defense candidate Aaron Rome, Sergei Fedorov and Teemu Selanne scored with the man advantage.

“That’s one thing we want to really get good because that’s how we’re going to win a lot of games,” said Selanne, who returned to the Ducks this season after having been traded to the Sharks in 2001. “There are a lot of things we can do better – better passing and keeping things a little more simple. We have to shoot more.”

To some degree, offensive struggles are to be expected, particularly on the heels of a season-long lockout and with different lineups every night, including players who will be with American Hockey League affiliate Portland, Maine, when the regular season begins.

Additionally, the club is under the guidance of a new coach, Randy Carlyle, who is implementing a markedly different system than that employed by former Ducks coach Mike Babcock.

Selanne and Fedorov, who each also had an assist, produced their first exhibition goals 17 seconds apart in the third period to erase a 3-2 Coyotes lead. Lupul also had a goal and an assist, while defenseman Keith Carney chipped in three assists and Sandis Ozolinsh two.

Through two games, the Ducks had been guilty of not creating enough traffic in front of the opposition net, but Carlyle views the issue going deeper than that.

“As you go forward with the same group, you hope things become more consistent, that pucks continually get through from the point or from the side wall, that rebounds are there and that we’re in position,” Carlyle said. “The one thing you have to establish is that you’re prepared to shoot the puck.

“You have to be able to take the puck to the net, make plays from the low area to the high area, get pucks through and have people go to the net.”

In one fashion or another, the Ducks are likely to hear that message repeatedly.

“Sometimes it takes an outburst to get people’s attention,” Carlyle said. “As a coach, sometimes you just get frustrated enough that enough is enough.”

NOTES

The Ducks continue their exhibition schedule tonight in Vancouver and Sunday at San Jose. … Goaltender Steve Shields, in training camp on a tryout basis, had expected to play Sunday but is likely to be out another couple of days because of a sprained shoulder.